CITY PROPOSES BIKE-SCOOTER DEAL WITH LYFT, LIME

5-year pact to allow 3,000 scooters and at least 600 bicycles

Denver is working on a five-year deal with Lyft and Lime for a maximum of 1,500 scooters and at least 300 bicycles per company on city streets.

Denver’s first, temporary foray into the world of shared scooters and bicycles is coming to an end, but city officials announced Thursday that they’re ready to commit to a longer-term relationship.

Denver’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure is proposing five-year licensing agreements with Lyft and Lime for a maximum of 1,500 scooters and at least 300 bicycles per company, according to a news release. The agreements would give Lyft and Lime exclusive access to the market once permits expire for the other companies in town, such as Bird and Spin, according to department spokeswoman Nancy Kuhn.

The new contracts would include free or discounted rides for some low-income users and requirements that a portion of the scooters and bikes be deployed outside of the city’s core, said Nicholas Williams, the department’s acting chief of staff.

The scooters in particular divided many in Denver — seen as either a fun way to roll around town or the bringer of injuries, blocked sidewalks and one literal

slap in the face. They were banned near Coors Field during Colorado Rockies games after one crash near the stadium.

Meanwhile, Denver B-Cycle, the city’s first shared micromobility system, saw a decline in ridership from a peak monthly average of 31,435 in 2014 to 25,453 in 2018, leading to its demise last year.

Ridership with the remaining shared bicycles has continued to decline, and Williams said the new contracts should fill some of the void left by B-Cycle’s departure. From April 2020 to January 2021, shared scooters averaged about 172,000 rides per month and shared bikes averaged about 6,400 rides per month.

The downsides of shared bikes, scooters

Sharing scooters and bikes are fun and novel ways to move around town, according to Jill Locantore, executive director of the nonprofit Denver Streets Partnership, which advocates for “people-friendly streets.”

But discussions of shared streets and bike lanes, however, often brings on a chorus of people who say they feel their cars are increasingly unwelcome. The discourse amounts to, as one city councilman put it last year, something of a battle for the soul of Denver.

Scooters left “all helter-skelter” in the sidewalks can block paths and create tripping hazards for the blind and those who use wheelchairs, said Gary Van Dorn, treasurer of the Mile High Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of Colorado. Blind people using canes can miss them easily, and the same goes for those who rely on guide dogs.

Companies also should include an easier way for the visually impaired to file complaints on scooters or bikes left in sidewalks, he said, suggesting using a QR code.

“How is a blind person going to read the serial number?” Van Dorn said. “How would we know where it’s at?”

To be clear, Van Dorn said, the federation doesn’t oppose the ride sharing programs so much as it wants to ensure the scooters are used responsibly and the city regulates the industry accordingly.

Wide support for shared streets

As more people embrace those modes of transportation, the less pollution and traffic Denver will see. Locantore said that’s also true for shared streets and dedicated bike lanes. The more infrastructure for cyclists Denver provides, the safer people will feel and the more they’ll want to ride their bikes, she said.

The pandemic renewed interest in cycling across the country, and a small local poll from the Denver-based OnSight Public Affairs firm — commissioned by Locantore — indicates some of that interest will continue once the pandemic ends. Of the 585 people polled, 31% said they plan to ride a bicycle more than they did before the pandemic and 51% said they would ride as much as before. In addition, 68% said they support the shared streets program, and 79% said they support Mayor Michael Hancock’s goal of creating 125 miles of dedicated bike lanes by 2024.

Locantore also believes one shared scooter or bike ride can lead to more consistent ridership.

“It could be sort of a gateway drug,” Locantore said. “It can be this huge eye opener of ‘Hey, this is really great.’ ”

Denver currently has 2,490 scooters total from Lime, Lyft, Bird and Spin, Kuhn said. Lime is the only bike-share company, with 500 on the streets.

The new contracts would increase the number of scooters and bikes, Williams said, by allowing a total of 3,000 scooters and at least 600 bikes. Lyft and Lime will have to maintain a 5to-1 ratio of scooters and bikes on any given day. For example, if Lime sends out 1,000 scooters for one day, it also must provide 200 bicycles.

A representative for Lime declined to comment on the pending contracts, which are scheduled to be presented before the City Council’s Land Use,Transportation & Infrastructure Committee on Tuesday before heading before the whole council for approval.